 We were delighted to learn that our film ‘We were young’ won the 14-Plus Award for the second best youth film at the Lola Screen Film festival in Kenya. For its 5th edition that ran August 9-14,2010 in Nairobi, Lola Kenya Screen received 302 films from 38 countries. It allocated 14 prizes only and ‘we were young’ was one of them.
‘We were young’ was directed by Philippe Talavera, OYO’s director. It looks at the story of four young Namibians who have either finished or dropped out of school. Life after school in a country with over 50% unemployment is challenging and youngsters often struggle to make a living.
Tyson (Nyandee Mbarandongo – The Namibian Odysseus, Because of them) tried smoking his first cigarette when he was still in Primary School. John (Norman Kapunda – The Namibian Odysseus) never liked school and wants to fail grade 10 in order to feel free again. Cubic (Bergo Van Wyk – A crack in the wall) dreams of the day he will finally meet his father. Patricia (Estomine Haradoes – Because of them) has learning difficulties and decided to drop out of school. Four young Namibians. Four stories, when once… we were young.
Also starring Eric Boamah, We were young was first created as a play in 2009. It was presented to over 20,000 learners and was a great success. The film adaptation, while trying to keep the essence of the play, is presented as a docu-fiction. It was officially launched at the FNCC on 10 March 2010 in the presence of the director and actors.
The director of the Lola Screen Festival explained the film won the prize because of a ‘ Good story with informative and educative theme – the story is well brought out. The video was of high quality with impressive and good shots that applied in the whole film and good graphics applied in the beginning. The film had promising characters because they own their parts/roles. It was an original idea that had been expressed cinematographically.’
 Upon receiving notification of the prize, Philippe Talavera said ‘it is a great honour for all those involved in this project. We worked really hard, from creating the script to finalising the film. Monologues are not easy to shoot. We are not often used to see one person talking to himself/herself on screen. Finding a way to make those monologues alive was a challenged. But I was privileged to work with four incredibly talented young actors. Horst Zaire and Matias Kamati at the camera and Wojtek Majewski at the sound did a great job. Elke Kintscher magnificently edited the film. The original story was written by five young people, E. Ashipala, W. Fillemon, M. Nyjamba, V. Kalambo and L. Mabuku and was very strong. I think we won the prize because all those involved were passionate about this project.’
‘We were young’ is currently shown in schools and communities by the OYO team. OYO feels it is important to have facilitation sessions when showing DVDs, in order to help the audience reflect on the message presented. ‘Our films’, explains Talavera, ‘while entertaining have a strong message. We try and make a difference in the lives of young people. We try to help them reflect on situations they might find themselves confronted to. We hope that while looking at our movies, they learn something that is useful to them’. Over 9600 people have seen the film so far.
Lola Screen Film festival awards 2010 for films addressing teenagers from 14 years old onwards are:
14-Plus Award for the best youth film: SEASONS OF A LIFE by Charles Shemu Joyah of Malawi.
14-Plus Award for the second best youth film: WE WERE YOUNG by Philippe Talavera of Namibia.
14-Plus Award for the third best youth film: EN MODE AILLEURS by Vincent Chabrillant of France.
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